Workshops

What's the point?

Making money from e-commerce at the bottom line is not a given. Competition, narrow margins, high return rates, many hidden costs, complex technology - at the end of the day, many a CFO is still not satisfied. Of course, without e-commerce no right to exist, but the business case must be able to stand on its own feet at some point. The conversation about the economic outcome of online sales - especially in the current climate - needs to be done properly. Not focused on 2030, but on next month and next year.

Do you have a focus on economic returns?

Are you knowledgeable as an e-commerce manager, online team or commercial director? Do you know what the most valuable online revenue is, both strategically and financially? Which third parties you cede what margin to? What investments are ahead? What hidden costs you should be allocating? What the true TCO of your platform is? And what remains at the bottom of the line? Could it be more efficient?

Why is this insight difficult?

There are understandable reasons why this is not the full focus, for example:

1. Growth focus: single-minded focus on sales KPIs
2. Complex technology: cluttered landscape full of tools, processes, parties
3. Organizational tangle: almost all internal disciplines must participate
4. Cane of the day: micro management, no time to zoom out

What are your reasons for getting involved?

The plans and budgets for 2024 are set. What sales in what channels do we aim for? What return requirements do we set? Give yourself time for the economic perspective. What cost savings are possible in the short term? What revenue categories are so unprofitable that we slow them down? Of course, hard finance is not the one and only - but it is often underexposed.

1. Proposition & rationalization

1. Is the right offer on time and complete in the right channels? How do you organize time savings?
2. Divide your orders and your customers into segments. Which ones are not profitable enough and why?
3. What quick wins in the order process follow from data analysis?
4. Can 'broken journeys' be identified?
5. What upsell opportunities can be easily exploited in order and after-sale phases?

2. E-commerce economics

1. What are the (in)direct handling costs per order type in your chain?
2. What optimizations are possible in terms of multi-collo orders?
3. Which orders and customers appear to be excessively returnable? What is your vision on this?
4. Do you have a grip on packaging costs, what optimizations do we see in rates?
5. What is your CPS and ROAS strategy?
6. Are your distribution options optimized, with an eye toward cost savings?
7. How do we align your payment options with customer requirements and your strategy?
8. What room is there in the payment rates with your providers?
9. What cost centers do you use in your budgeting and reporting?

3. Tooling & systems check.

1. What tools and systems do you use and what do they cost? How do you create a live overview?
2. What can your e-commerce platform cost? How do you express that? What is the benchmark?
3. Many tools overlap in functionality, are they all useful and needed?
4. How do you scale your infrastructure with volume and period variation?

4. Team & organization

1. What does your ideal e-commerce team look like? What roles are you missing?
2. What cost savings are possible through multidisciplinary organization?
3. What is the ideal distribution between internal and external resources?
4. Is your recruitment in line with overall objectives and KPIs?

Expertise

You know best what's going on; we often know where it's at. We don't come to lecture you or to unilaterally explain how things work. But to use our experience to look for pitfalls that we have fallen into before, so that you don't have to. Together, this allows you to immediately implement improvements that contribute to a more profitable e-commerce operation.

XSARUS and OneRetail can build on almost 25 years of e-commerce experience. More than 150 clients in the Benelux have been served with advice, optimization and technology.